Off on vacation

After a grueling week at work, I'm off to Cape Cod for a vacation. We've rented a small house on a lake with a dock and I'm so ready to swim, relax, eat clams, go boating, walk on the beach, read novels....

This will be my first sober vacation. I was feeling very ambivalent about this but this morning I know that I am going to do it. A sober friend noted that you don't get many family vacations in life and it's important to be present for them. So I will be. See you next week, everyone.

P.S. Grace, the ginger beer is an awesome substitute for wine. I only allow myself to drink it when I would otherwise have been having a glass of wine. Yummy stuff!

Sober activities

Went to see Richard Thompson (a British folk rock singer whom I adore) last weekend. The concert was great and I was thinking how glad I was that I wasn't drinking. If I had been, I would have had several glasses of wine before the show, and then I would have been jonesing through the show, wishing I had more wine (it was an alcohol free venue--woohoo!) rather than enjoying the music, which I did thoroughly.

On the way home, I enjoyed a nice cold ginger beer that my husband had thoughtfully packed for me in his mini cooler (Alas, he brought his beer.). But it was delicious and way better than alcohol would have been.

Got to go to the Red Sox last night with some people from my old job. Some of my old colleagues were a bit shocked when I turned down wine. And I'm really glad I did. Especially since they would have opened a bottle just for me (we were in box seats). And I would have had to fight not to drink it all by myself in front of all these folks. Not drinking is so much better. I got caught up with old friends and enjoyed the game. And the Sox won, despite the bullpen problems. There's nothing like seeing Big Papi hit one over the wall.

Three months (92 days)

This is a record for me in the several years I've been trying to quit.

The wisdom I've picked up in this journey? Fundamentally, not drinking--making the commitment to not drink and following through and doing whatever it takes to stay that way--is the key to it all, the only steps that anyone needs.. Maybe whatever it takes to stay that way is a belief in a higher power and the 12 steps, or antabuse, or nothing much, like some people that I've encountered who have just put down the jug and never looked back and never did anything in terms of maintaining sobriety. The supporting tools may be different across many people.

I do like chips, however, and wish I had a meeting to go to so I could get my 90 day chip!